INTRODUCTION                                                                     

Kathakali-the complete theatre is a perfect fusion of the arts of literature,music,acting, painting and sculpture.The origin of kathakali is steeped in myths and legends.The art of kathakali is older than its literature which is about four centuries old.In the field of abhinaya,hand gestures,make-up and dresss kootiattam can be called as the true forbearer of kathakali.In  1653 AD the Raja of Calicut,Manaveda Samootiri ,set the Sanskrit script of  ‘Krishnageeti’[an epic poem of Krishna] to dance and thus in creating ‘Krishnanattam’ moved one step forward in the evolution of the dance-drama form in kerala.This form began using a variety of characters as well as drawing upon Kerala’s martial arts tradition of Kalarippayattu[as per the Natyasastra chapters on ‘Chari Vidhanam’ and ‘Mandala Vikalpanam’] for movements basic steps.The story line consisting of Lord Krishna’s life from birth till ascension to heaven was delineated in eight parts and enacted through eiht successive nights.the stories  were Avataram,Kaliya Mardanam,Rasakreeda,Kamsavadham,Swayamvaram,Bana Yudham,Vividavadham and Swargarohanam.The dress was more sophisticated than Kootiattam and differentiated in character types.Masks were also used in plenty.The Chengila and the Illattalam were played by two singers and the Idakka, and two maddolams were used as percussion instruments.Krishnageeti was sung in Sanskrit and performances were given within the temple courtyard. . Once Kottarakkara Thampuran, the Raja of Kottarakkara who was attracted by Krishnanaattam requested the Zamorin for the loan of a troupe of performers. Due to the political rivalry between the two, Zamorin did not allow this. So Kottarakkara Thampuran created another art form called Ramanattam which was later transformed into Aattakatha. Krishnanaattam was written in Sanskrit, and Raamanaattam was in Malayalam. By the end of 17th century, Attakatha was presented to the world with the title 'Kathakali'. Ramanattam  was first performed in front of the deity at the Ganapathi temple of Kottarakkara.It  showed Rama’s life from birth to coronation in eight parts.The stories were –Putra Kameshti,Seeta Swayamvaram,Vichhinnabhishekham,Kharavadham,Bali Vadham and yuddham.The songs were sung in Malayalam and performances were given outside temple courtyards Thus it achieved tremendous popularity.The character artist in Ramanattam accompanied his gestures with songs sung by himself though an accompanying vocalist also be present.The costume was similar to Krishnanattam,butb not equally grand.Instead of occasionally using masks as in Krishnanattam,make-up was applied and simple head-gear was worn.From this time dance-drama in Kerala became a torch-bearer for the masses. At the end of the seventeenth century,the Raja of Kottayam drew inspiration from the Mahabharata and wrote  Bakavadham, Kalyana Saugandhikam,Kirmeera Vadham and Kalakeya Vadham of great literary value and set them to the Ramanattam dance form.The author of four kathakali plays, he set th standard for the subsequent writers.These plays achieved more sophistication than the original Ramanattam style and were widely popular.